#minifemslashfeb2022

I’m doing some prompts from @ministarfruit ‘s femslash february!

day two: plants, faraskye 

The study of plants. Also commonly referred to as botany. It’s a subject you can major in at university and it’s also useful for a lot of areas. Like… breeding new plants for example. Or… having them at home?

Let’s just say, Ema is not very good with plants.

She knows about genetics, sure. Mendel’s experiments on pea plants and his laws of heredity do count as some kind of botany, right? See, Ema’s doing well with plant knowledge.

Which is why she is standing in a flower shop arguing about low-maintenance plants. Not for her, obviously, but as a kind of gift. Okay, it’s not “kind of” a gift, it is supposed to be a gift. Period.

Maybe she should’ve thought about which plant exactly to get Kay before she entered the florist’s, but hindsight is always 20/20.

The florist is looking at her with a beat expression. So far Ema has said no to at least four plants. Aloe vera (toxic to pets), devil’s ivy (weekly or bi-weekly watering is too much responsibility), basic succulents (she thinks they look ugly) and pothos (also toxic to pets). Not that she and Kay have any pets at the moment but you know, they might. At some point. In any case, the plant should not be toxic to pets.

Doesn’t she want to pick some flowers? The florist suggests. Ema says no. Flowers die too easily. She wants something resilient and low-maintenance. And non-toxic to potential pets.

The florist sighs deeply. Ema looks around until she spots a little red flower among spikes. Of course she knows this one, it’s a cactus! Maybe she should get one of those?

She is quickly informed that most cacti only bloom once a year. Since this one’s already blossoming, it won’t do it again any time soon. Ema, however, doesn’t care. She’s in love. A plant that requires watering only once a month, is non-toxic, and has this kind of je ne sais quoi Ema wanted? Perfect. Really, she should’ve thought of cacti beforehand. It’s such an obvious choice.

She buys it and holds it tightly in her hands on the way home. When she positions it in her apartment, she takes great care to make it look as enticing as a small spiky thing can look like.

Kay comes to visit her only a few hours later. She takes one look at the cactus and squeals in delight.

“It’s beautiful, Ema!” She exclaims, lovingly touching it like it's a precious treasure. “It doesn’t dry out when we have to leave the apartment for our assignments, we can document how long it takes for it to bloom again, and it’s non-toxic to any potential pets we might adopt!”